If you’re planning a huge trip in the next several months and you’ve hunkered down into savings mode, you may be wondering how you can save as much as possible without having to necessarily say goodbye to having a social life in the meantime. It can be daunting to have a great trip on the horizon but be dogged daily by requests from friends to hit up that trendy new cocktail bar or hot restaurant. Never fear – here are a couple of great money saving tips for you to check out so you can not only still enjoy your home life within reason while saving for the excursion of a lifetime.

Hilton Honors Rewards

This is one of the best ways to earn some seriously discounted travel while still being able to hit the town with your friends. Various credit cards like American Express have points program agreements with companies like Hilton to provide their members with great perks like Hilton Honors Rewards. These rewards can be used to get discounted travel, hotel rooms, cruises and more, and with it being connected to your American Express card or other banking card, every time you spend money, you rack up points. This means you can still enjoy a cocktail or two with your crew without feeling guilty about spending the money you’re meant to be saving.

Transferring and Opening New Accounts

With a number of credit cards, opening new accounts and transferring balances is a great way to earn extra bonus points and rewards, depending on terms, conditions and annual fees. It’s important to research this in advance of doing to make sure you’re doing it correctly and for the best benefit for you. Likewise, even if you aren’t transferring balances, just opening an account can get you all kinds of great sign up bonuses and extra perks just for having a card.

Saving Money On The Road

If you’re worried about saving money on the road, there’s no need to fear! There are so many options for getting the most out of your money while travelling and with options like using your Hilton points for free hotel stays and more, it couldn’t be easier to stay in style while on the road. If you are in a place that doesn’t offer Hilton hotels, such as small villages or towns, consider couchsurfing. If you aren’t familiar with couchsurfing, it’s a system set up where local people (or other travellers living in the region) invite travellers into their homes overnight for free in exchange for stories and making friends. It’s an incredibly popular way for people to travel for free, or at least much cheaper and a great way to meet other travellers as well as locals.

So there you have a couple of great ways to save money, rack up travelling points or to travel on the cheap while on the road. Now that travel is so mainstream, finding ways of doing it on the cheap is becoming more and more commonplace. So pack your bags and get ready – the wild world awaits.